THE FIRST WORD

cancerous

PRONUNCIATION:

(KAN-suh-ruhs) 

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Having a harmful, uncontrolled growth.
2. Of or relating to cancer: a malignant growth or tumor.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin cancer (crab, tumor, cancer). Canker/cankerous are from the same root. Earliest documented use: 1425.

USAGE:

"The hope implicit in technology's potential to improve the world is balanced here by a cancerous downside that eats holes in the fabric of modern relationships."
Gordon Farrer; The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Oct 3, 2013.